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Chapter 16 - Boorish Actions (CF)
In a rarity for a Tubba plan, everything had gone perfectly as intended once they docked at the northeastern edge of the Mushroom Kingdom. They had left most of the Introverts and the SS Mahruav crew behind, with only the “elite group” of friends following Tubba into the prairies below Sky Land. They consisted of: Mud, Blizzerd, Gonzales, Paralus, Galmajo, Shazam, Aaron, Xavier, Sarge and Gamma. The transit through Ice Land was a little narrow, with no one comfortable in the chilly conditions except Blizzerd, and to an extent, Sarge. As well, constantly having to be on the alert preventing anyone from truly getting comfortable. A complete turn in emotions was due when they reached the prairies under Sky Land, the comfortable Month Mushroom sun soaking into their bones, allowing everyone to feel at home. The prairies couldn’t have lasted long enough. Soon, they gave way to the unforgiving and eerie aura of Forever Forest, where the stars and moon always sparkled overhead, even if it was midday. Every crack of a twig, every rustle in the bushes startled someone, with only Paralus, Gonzales and Tubba feeling comfortable in Forever Forest, as Clubbas, as well as Sarge, being undead himself. Tubba had been beginning to feel confident - would this actually work? Exactly to plan? And then, far, far away from the symbolic place of power for Forever Forest, Boo Mansion, they stumbled across a camp of less than twenty Boos. To his utter shock, the leader of this unimpressive and ragged group was none other than Lady Bow. He listened to her story with utter shock - she had been overthrown. After two centuries in command, Lady Bow had been overthrown as the leader of the Boos of Forever Forest. This was something that Tubba had never expected to happen - Lady Bow was synonymous with leader, Lady Bow was confident, powerful... how could this have happened? Furthermore, it put a spanner into the plans he was forming. He could no longer count on a positive relationship with the leader of Forever Forest. Bow explained that she had not been expecting it at all. An outright raid on the Boo Mansion by a few discontented subjects, as well as a complete lack of preparedness, had made her a very easy target. A quick duke-out with the leader of the discontented subjects ended badly for Bow, to the point some of her magical energy was sheared off, creating the nasty scars that Tubba saw. They were deep, silver marks down Bow’s light blue body, some stretching from her wing to her tail, with smaller tendrils reaching off and spreading around her body. They gave Tubba shivers. “So, you can’t help us?” Tubba asked with disbelief. Him and his ten friends had settled around a fire Bow had graciously provided, with her remaining loyal subjects lingering above her head. “You’re no longer in control of the Boos of this Forest?” “That’s right.” Bow confirmed, the firelight making her scars look even deeper and nastier, outlining them with black and orange. “I’m sorry, Tubba,” she apologized, “I would help you if I could, but I’m simply in no shape to marshal the Boos up again. That would require more troops that I have.” As Tubba opened his mouth to protest, Bow cut him off: “Tubba, your group is fine, but none of you, save for that Magikoopa, are particularly magical, and that’s the only way to hurt us Boos. Besides, I don’t really have a particular interest to reclaim the leadership.” Bow finished, her eyes burning with some emotion that Tubba couldn’t read. “Why are you lying?” Blizzerd broke in, the orbs on his antenna glowing orange with suspicion. “You clearly haven’t accepted that the Boos no longer regard you as their leader. I see it in your eyes.” “Blizzerd,” warned Tubba. The last thing they needed was to be chased out of Forever Forest by a small pack of Boos because Blizzerd insulted Lady Bow. Lady Bow was notable for getting antsy if she was not taken at her word. Bow’s mouth fell open, as if she couldn’t believe this whippersnapper of a Wizzerd was challenging her. “Excuse me?” She glared at Blizzerd, who looked back unblinkingly, his pupils showing no fear in his blue irises. “You doubt my word?” “I do.” Blizzerd said confidently. “You want the leadership back. You just don’t believe we’re good enough.” Curling her lip, causing the scars to move around her body as she moved, Bow looked over to Tubba. “What am I supposed to believe, when your leader has failed his Kingdom twice?” She let her gaze travel over the rest of them. “I’ve never seen eight of you before - how am I supposed to have faith that you could defeat the usurping forces in Boo Mansion, when I hardly know your abilities?” Giving Bow a comforting look, Blizzerd continued. “You should know better to underestimate us.” His soft eyes travelled over to Gonzales. “You know Gonzales. He’s a Clubba. You’d know that he’s deathly loyal to all his friends, and would never let us go alone. He’s talented with the club, and it doesn’t matter his magic skills may be poor - he would never abandon us.” “If you really knew Gonzales, you would know that.” Not giving Bow a chance to respond, Blizzerd turned to Shazam, Sarge and Aaron next. “You’d know that Shazam was willing throw himself out of an airship to protect us. You’d know that Sarge died to protect his brother. You’d know that Aaron can control lightning, having been a Ruff Puff, and is quite good at it.” His pupils rolled over to Gamma, Xavier and Mud. “You’d know that Gamma is a Star Kid, who are built off of their magical abilities. You’d know that Xavier is on this journey because of his loyalty to us. You’d know that Mud has waited sixteen years to repay the debt of loyalty he has to his friend. It doesn’t matter that some of us don’t know skillful enough magic - our loyalty and friendship will ensure that we will never abandon each other.” “You’d know that Paralus was willing to confront a group of angry and wild Snifits for Tubba. You’d know that he stood up against the Koopas, to try and let the Clubbas reclaim Gusty Gulch. You’d know that Galmajo is the one of the most talented Magikoopas in the world, and he’s only twenty-two. He has the combined skill of ten Magikoopas, so it doesn’t matter that some of us can’t do magic.” Blizzerd looked over to Tubba. Tubba was watching him - where had the young hothead gone? These were the words of a confident, strong young man. “You’d know our leader, as much as you say has let his people down, has never let me down. Ever. You don’t really know us, do you, Bow? So why not give us a chance? Why count us out before we’ve even done anything?” Silence followed the words of Blizzerd. Tubba suspected that many of them hadn’t expected the staunchest opposition to Bow to come from the seemingly disinterested and once self-centered Blizzerd. “Well...” Bow blustered in reply. “If you’re so keen to get my territory back for me - and are stubborn enough to believe you can,” Bow pointedly glared at Blizzerd. “Then who am I to stop you? Don’t blame me when your quest reaches a sticky, unexpected end.” Shazam took a step forward to stand beside Blizzerd. “You don’t really know us, Bow. Don’t underestimate us,” he repeated the underlying message of Blizzerd’s little speech. “Don’t count us out.” * A hastily-assembled plan was put into action. Sarge was the main proprietor of the plan, because aside from him and Galmajo, none of them really had experience in the paranormal or undead. Tubba knew the path to the Boo Mansion by heart, allowing them to calculate the best angle of attack. Sarge echoed Bow’s words, saying that those less-skilled in magic would be unable to even damage the Boos, should they attack. The reason for this was that there was nothing physical or corporeal about Boos. They were essentially made up of magical essence, the essence that usually stayed locked up in species, or was tapped into by rare individuals in a species, or even rarer: entire species such as Magikoopas or Firebreath Koopas, like the Koopa ruling house. However, upon death, if an individual was truly terrified of death, certain species had the option of coming back as a ghost. Unfortunately, Clubbas were not one of them - their magical reserves were much smaller than other species - they simply did not have enough magical energy to return as ghosts. What this forced upon the group was that a few of their members were completely unable to do anything to protect them when they reached the Boo Mansion. Gonzales, Xavier, Mud, Paralus, and Shazam would be unable to help, and Tubba and Aaron only sparingly with their electric abilities, which Aaron had retained from his Ruff Puff state. Sarge would be able to contribute slightly with his magical freezing ice-breath, but the bulk of defence in the attack would have to come from the group of Galmajo, heading the attack, Gamma, and Blizzerd. Those unable to assist magically would create a diversion in the courtyard, with Galmajo there as backup in case things got hairy. As the most talented magician of the group, he felt he would be capable of holding the Boos at bay if the situation demanded it. Tubba trusted the young Magikoopa, seeing determination sparkle behind his clear glasses. Tubba, Aaron and Sarge would head into the Mansion and look to locate the leader, while Gamma and Blizzerd would concern themselves with making sure they could safely get there. There was a certain faith that Tubba, Aaron and Sarge, none of them particularly skillful in magic, would be talented enough to defeat the leader of the usurpers. In half a day, the plan was ready, and they silently slipped through the foggy and misty undergrowth of Forever Forest, the stars sparkling above their head, the faux moon drenching them in eerie silver light. They reached the Mansion with hardly any trouble, assembling against the outer wall, the dark black pronged gate a few steps away. Through the gaps in the bars of the gate, they could sight the courtyard, with dark green bushes rustling ominously. There was nothing visible, but Galmajo assured Tubba - the Boos were there, just invisible. “Let’s get this over with,” Tubba said, trying to convince himself more than everyone else that this was the moment. It was one thing to wish to conflict with Ludwig, who, while a versatile and formidable opponent, was at least situated on his mortal plane. It was quite another to actively stir up discontent among the undead. Xavier kicked the gate open, not bothering to be stealthy. It creaked loudly and in a foreboding manner, like a dying groan. He strode in, his arms swinging by his side confidently and arrogantly, as if he was unperturbed by the undead spirits he knew were floating around. Tubba watched as Xavier strode closer to the chocolate-coloured door that symboled the entrance of the Mansion, more and more spirits were popping into visibility. Shazam, Mud, Paralus and Gonzales hurried after Xavier, with Galmajo lurking many paces behind, in the shelter of one of the bushes. Xavier halted in the centre of the courtyard, looking up, his face defiant at the amount of Boos swooping down to examine him. “Now,” Tubba hissed softly. Leading the way, Aaron running behind him, his boots crunching on the soft grass, Sarge’s bones crackling as he tried to keep up, Gamma and Blizzerd floating silently behind him. As they reached the chocolate door undetected, Tubba shoved it open as sounds exploded behind them. It was the trademark sound of a Magikoopa casting spell, not unlike rushing wind, and then the familiar bang! as it contacted something. Tubba piled into the Mansion, having faith in Galmajo. The foyer of the mansion had a tall chandelier many feet above him, spilling yellow light down upon them, a green and brown couch to the right, and many chocolate brown doors to other parts of the mansion. The whole foyer was prefaced with a spooky gray and green wallpaper, and cold stone flooring. To his disgust, Tubba realized that not everyone had followed him into the mansion. Aaron, Sarge and Blizzerd were with him, but it appeared that Gamma had lost his belief in Galmajo and dropped back to the battle taking place in courtyard. Snarling in displeasure, making a mental note to tell the pink Star Kid off later, Tubba realized that their plan was very susceptible in the foyer. There was nowhere else to go - the chocolate brown doors were all too far away, and there were more spirits than Tubba had expected popping into existence above his head. “Stick close to me. Back to back.” Tubba heard Blizzerd’s order and obeyed, pressing the slashed half of his tail against Blizzerd’s bottom half, feeling Aaron’s back and Sarge’s spine as they complied. Flying down, in a ring surrounding them were countless spirits, far, far more than Tubba had ever expected to be in the foyer. And then he saw the Boo Guy at the head of the little ring surrounding them, clearly giving orders to the other Boos. Surprise lanced through him, before he called confidently, disregarding that he was in a swamp of enemies: “Dibby!”